Epitome of evil brings back good old days

Fenestella

Banned
The Nazi regime is widely viewed as the epitome of evil because it industrialized mass killings. However, the methods it employed to execute its high-profile enemies of the state would be considered innocuous by most of the moderate regimes prior to the 19th-20th centuries, let alone the evil ones; so would be the ways the Nazis treated the family members of enemies of the state.

What if the Nazis went old school when going after enemies of the state?

For instance, Himmler did in fact fancy the reintroduction of Sippenhaft, essentially the mandatory death sentence for the family members of enemies of the state regardless of complicity, supposedly "a very old custom practiced among the ancient Teutons", accordingly "will Count Stauffenberg's family be wiped out down to the last member", which wasn't carried out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sippenhaft

Or can you imagine the Nazis imitate the horrific treatment of the Münster rebel leaders?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Münster_Rebellion

The fact that the old school regimes and rulers, even the benign ones and the "Great" ones, were much more comfortable with all these grotesque sadism, is really chilling and depressing. What does it say about the nature of these regimes throughout human existence?
 
I think the Nazis did go after the families of political and social opponents quite routinely as punishment or leverage. In regards to the other point, the Nazis did hang supposed traitors or communists from lamp-posts and stuff after executing them publicly, especially when things really started to go to shit towards the end of the war. The Nazi's also made use of the Guillotine to execute political opponents, so they were pretty old-school...
 

Fenestella

Banned
most executions of individuals convicted of high treason / regicide / etc. before very recent centuries would be considered too gruesome by Nazi standards, guillotining could be considered a coup de grâce for every victim of those executions.
very sad truth.
 
Nazis attempted to wipe out the von Stauffenbergs but they couldn't for a number of reasons.

Anyway, to punish their enemies in some barbarian, gloomier way wasn't to change the course of history. Stalingrad, El Alamein, Kursk and Bagration would still happen.

The only difference would be that, instead of being called a bunch a sadistic psychokillers would be also called barbarians, uncivilized or something like that.

That is, just a small nitpick in the great book of human history.
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
Additionally there is an efficiency issue.

Why go through all the effort of breaking the wheel when you can just hang, shoot, or gas your enemy?
 
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